1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle front structure of an automobile, and in particular, relates to a vehicle front structure having left and right front side members which are disposed such that the longitudinal directions thereof run along the vehicle longitudinal direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is known a conventional vehicle front structure having left and right front side members which are disposed such that the longitudinal directions thereof run along the vehicle longitudinal direction (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 8-282537). In this technique, the rear end portions of the pair of front side members are joined to a dash panel. A dash cross portion, which extends in the vehicle transverse direction along the dash panel and has a closed cross-section portion, is provided between the rear end portions of the pair of front side members.
However, in the vehicle front structure disclosed in JP-A No. 8-282537, the front side members are reinforced by a vehicle cabin inner side dash cross member. The space within the vehicle cabin is narrowed because the vehicle cabin inner side dash cross member projects-out toward the vehicle cabin inner side of the dash panel.